Moments before USDA unveiled the semi-annual cattle herd count last Friday, I was feeling rather apathetic about the pending report's bearish potential. For one thing, these twice-a-year assessments have seldom been known as market-movers. Such "long views" may command the headlines for a day or two, but for the most part they are quickly trumped by more immediate considerations.

Additionally, the very nature of such "big picture" reports typically lends them less credibility among analysis and traders (i.e., the bolder the assumptions, the more dubious the conclusions and implications)